FE: Infernal Awakening
by Master S96
Summary: The realm of awakening, a world known for many possibilities. Though they always have the same beginning, and the same end? What would happen should someone try to change things? This is merely one of the many possible results. A reboot of my old fic Fate's Awakening. Rating is subject to change. Criticism is respected, flames are not.
1. Prologue - A Rude Awakening

**Author's Note: How long has it been since I even attempted this folks? *shrugs* Well, I got the drive back and decided to start this up from the beginning again. So, I welcome you all to FE: Infernal Awakening.**

Darkness, an empty void of nothing. That's all I feel around me, but why is this the case? Well as far back as I can remember, four years ago I was just another person to the world. Your typical high school student who did nothing but study, hang with friends on occasion, and go home to do it all again the next day. To think though that, THAT would have happened and cause my whole life to change…

 ***flashback to four years ago***

"Well, that's playthrough six done now." I told myself, closing my 3DS and putting it aside to charge. I gently lied down on my bed, sighing a little as I looked at the ceiling. "Well, tomorrow is just going to be yet another weekend for me." I say to myself, closing my eyes to take a small nap.

My nap was interrupted quickly though as I felt a sudden shake around me, ending just as quick as it started. I opened my eyes, looking worried as I look around my small room. "The hell? Earthquakes don't happen here." I mutter, looking alert as a blinding purple flash suddenly erupted, forcing me to cover my eyes as the shaking started again, this time the shaking increased in strength, throwing me off my bed and onto the floor. Before I could get to my feet though, it felt as though the floor vanished underneath me and I was falling through a purple void, sparks of pink lightning erupting throughout. In the midst in my fear, I must have passed out as darkness suddenly encompassed me again.

When I awoke, my surroundings were… unfamiliar. Unlike most of those fics where people suddenly found themselves in the world of whatever game they were really into, I found myself in the exact opposite. I found myself on a cold metal floor, the sound of multiple people arguing hitting my eardrums. As I slowly pried myself off the ground with a pained groan, one of them turned to face me, my eyes going wide as I was scared what would happen next, unaware of what was going to be my new future.

 ***Back to the present***

For those whole four years, the people took me in and helped me adjust to what I could call my new home. They taught me the essentials, hunting and gathering, swordplay, and some basic magic. It's funny, despite that place being in the future, they really like some of the old medieval methods of combat. Turns out they were some sort of dimensional hunting force, seeking threats that shouldn't exist in other worlds and eliminating them.

Though the interferences caused major changes to each individual world, some good, some bed, but overall we deem it an unfortunate but necessary evil. This brings me to now, my first mission, and I decided to take it on solo, unfortunately one of them messed up when sending me here… to put it short I ended up twenty feet above the ground and I don't know if I survived the impact… or died.

My question was answered soon as a terrible scent assaulted my nose, causing the darkness to fade and causing my eyes to be suddenly assaulted by light. I quickly blocked it with my left hand, turning my head to let my eyes adjust, the horrid stench lessening very slightly after I turned my head.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I searched around the ground, wondering if the gear I brought with me was still nearby. I let out a relieved sigh as I spotted a sword with a gently carved wooden hilt, the blade itself a sharp iron. Its scabbard lied next to it, a deep blue with golden adornments alongside it. I picked up both items and sheathed the sword. "Okay, but where's the tome?" I muttered, searching around the field, looking in desperation before a flash of light blue hit the corner of my vision. I didn't hesitate and made a mad dash, picking up the object and smiling as I held it in my hands.

In my grasp lied something that I had to literally beg my teacher to make me, a light blue tome with mystic dark blue engravings on the corners of its hard cover. I opened the tome and began reading the writing along the first page aloud, a large grin on my face as I read it. "Oh frigid chill, strike!" Finishing the incantation, I extended my right arm, a cool sensation going over my palm. It left my palm a second later as a ball of ice shot out, flying a good distance before bursting into smaller pieces of ice that fell slowly to the ground.

"Yes, it still works!" I cheered, putting the tome away with a large smile still on my face. The ice tome, I begged my teacher to make it for me because I wanted to use my best element in this mission. Unfortunately, this is all that could be made, I'm going to have to rely on my own skills to produce any more Ice tomes, or anything stronger in the spell tree.

My smile quickly faded though, turning into a disgusted grimace as the stench that awoke me brought me out of my little high. It seemed much worse though, forcing me to cover my nose. Looking around for the source, my jaw went slack when I saw it. Not far in front of me lied a simple town, giant pillars of black smoke rising from it.

Before my brain could fully comprehend what was going on, my legs were already carrying me towards the town. "Well, I guess I'm going to see what's going on." I comment, the stench of smoke assaulting my nose even more. When I finally came to a stop I felt bile rising up in my stomach as my eyes witnessed the scene in front of me.

Red, red as far as my eyes could see. Covered by that red substance were bodies. Most of the bodies seemed to be that of townspeople, at least that's what I could tell from the clothing on some of the remains.

"HELP!" A feminine voice suddenly cried out, causing me to turn to my left where I quickly noticed the situation in front of me. One of the maidens of the village, likely somewhere in her twenties was being held by her neck. Holding her was a muscular man with greasy hair, red markings on his face and hair covering his body. In his free hand, he was grasping an axe of some kind in his hand. It seemed to be curved a little like a boomerang, likely for throwing. Beside him I could identify two people of similar builds with a more standardized axe in each of their possession with cow skulls on their heads like helmets. In front of them stood a man in a red poncho, large brown pants, and a red witch hat in hand.

"Okay, four on one, definitely not good for me." I muttered, looking around the area a little. I noticed a small bridge with two figures with swords in hand standing guard. Feeling unnerved at the odds against me growing, a scream of pain soon rang out, making me face more to the right where what should be the seventh likely aggressor should have been. Instead, he was gored on a beautiful lance of silver with a strong hilt to match. On the horse was a male in bulky light blue armor with it seeming to be more silver around the collar. His hair seemed to be similar to mine, a dark chocolate brown but unlike mine it's much neater. Thankfully, he looked like an ally instead of a threat.

Appearing from his side is a blue haired male, wearing some sort of deep blue garb on his upper body with gray slacks. A white cape adorned on him flowing faintly from whatever wind was blowing, a silver pauldron on one of his shoulders, though not on the other for some reason. Finally, there was a sword in its scabbard on his hip, I couldn't make out much else from my current location, but I was still able to watch as another axe wielder attempted to ambush him, only for his attack to miss and the bluenette took the opportunity to cut him across his chest, blood spraying onto the ground as his body fell limp.

I turned back to my left after witnessing the display and noticed that the men were distracted. It seemed that in their moment of distraction, the woman somehow escaped and gave me an opportunity to attack. Pulling out my ice tome, I read the incantation, pointing my arm at the closer axeman. When the ice ball fired, the man turned around, the cold sensation likely getting his attention. Before he could scream though, the magic hit his upper chest and neck, freezing them numb, rendering his vocal cords useless at the moment.

"Okay, you can do this, its kill or be killed." I tell myself, running towards him, drawing my blade now. When I was in reach, I quickly thrust the blade forward, feeling something splatter onto my arm and cheek. When I opened my eyes, they widened in shock, through his throat was my sword, buried in up to the hilt. His eyes glazed over, all life gone from them as his corpse slowly slid off the blade and collapsed onto the ground with a solid thud, gaining the attention of the other two axeman, and their mage. "Shit."

Knowing that I was now in deep shit, and still feeling some shock from killing that man, I entered a ready stance, hoping to keep them off of me at the very least until those people at the other side of the bridge get over here. The axeman with a cow skull helmet struck first, jumping forward with an extremely slow swing. Bringing my sword up, I blocked the blow, the power of it causing my arms to tense in pain. My gaze went to the mage, unsurprisingly casting something while I held off the axeman.

I took a step back and made a large horizontal swing, forcing the axeman to jump back a little. Glancing at the mage, it looked like he was ready to make his move. Feeling a sense of dread beginning to form, I almost failed to notice the axeman making another attack. I attempted to dodge, but I was only quick enough to make sure it wasn't fatal, the axe still ended up getting buried into my right shoulder, resulting in a scream of pain as I fell to my knees.

"Gah!" Another scream rang out only a moment after mine. It was thankfully enough of a distraction to cause the man who just attacked me to turn away. Looking just past him, I noticed the mage on the ground, his body twitching with foam coming out of his mouth. Yellow cracks of electricity forming every few seconds.

Using the small opportunity and my left hand, I tightened my grip on my sword and thrust forward, sending it through his back cleanly. Watching as he slowly crumbled to the ground, I let out a violent cough, the taste of copper in my mouth as I witnessed some of my own blood splatter onto the ground. I managed to bring my head up, everything looking like a blur, but one in particular seemed to be heading towards me. Unable to determine if it was ally or foe, I readied my sword, only to find that my grip has weakened, soon followed by my whole body collapsing onto the hard stone.

I would have closed my eyes at that moment, but a new searing pain forced my eyes wide open while I screamed in pain once more, thrashing about as my arm instinctively shot to my shoulder which was now axe free. "St.. m..in. …und s. mu.. it wi.. ..ly ma.. ..ings ..rse." I could faintly hear a voice, it was clearly female, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. I tried to ignore the pain, attempting to hear her this time as she said the same thing again. "Pl… stop mo…g around s. mu.. it will make thi… worse." Able to make out enough this time, I forced myself to stop, a new pain forming as I felt a new sensation. I could feel the torn muscle in my arm slowly knit back together, same for the veins and skin. After twenty seconds of this painful sensation, it stopped. I removed my hand and witnessed as the place that once held a deep gash, only had a red scar now.

"Thank you…" I said, using my good arm to slowly bring myself back up. I looked in the direction of my saviour and tried to hide my surprise. It was a short girl… shorter than me at least since I seem to be a whole head taller than her. Anyways, she seemed to be wearing some sort of dress that's over some sort of caging. The bottom half of it was frilly and white, around the midsection and straps that go around her shoulders seemed to be some sort of guard and some frilly yellow sleeves to finish her attire. Her hair was bright blonde and tied up in pigtails with some sort of white headdress just in front of them. Her eyes are bright blue and seemed to be full of relief.

"Good, you're okay." She said, it sounded like she was concerned that I wasn't going to make it. My guess is that this was her first time healing a wound this severe. She did pretty good though, the scar might take a little adjusting to looking at, but I'm still happy that it's not a gaping wound anymore.

I gave her a nod and smile, turning back towards direction of the last axeman, only to see him cut clean in two. Looking more at the situation, it seemed as though the blue haired male took him down, the male in bulky armor and someone in a large hooded cloak off to the side. The blue haired male soon turned towards me and sheathed his sword. "You fought bravely today, thank you." He said, walking towards me. It seems that at a closer look, my initial analysis of his appearance was pretty much on, except now I now noticed a mark of some kind on his unguarded shoulder.

"No need to thank me, I just happened to be here at the right time I guess." I said, chuckling a little as I picked up my sword and put it away. "What's your name by the way?" I asked, wanting to give a name to the face of the person in front of me. He looked ready to answer me, but the brunette male raised an objection quickly.

"I would advise against that, this man seems suspicious." He advises, a prim and proper air becoming extremely apparent from him. While I am upset that he seems so suspicious of me, I can't blame him. I'm an armed stranger who seen that I am capable of taking a life… though they are probably unaware that it was the first time this ever happened to me.

"At ease Frederick, he does not seem like the type to just raise his blade at anyone." The blue haired male countered. Okay, so that gives me one name, Frederick, brown hair and bulky armor. Speaking of which, it seems as though Frederick, as annoyed as he was decided to not raise an objection again. "I am Chrom, leader of the shepherds." He introduced himself.

 _'_ _Chrom… where did I hear that name before?'_ I soon go deep into thought, thinking over everything until it finally came back. They said I had the most knowledge of this world, now I remember why they said that. This is Southtown, obviously in southern Ylisse, in the world of awakening. I wish I asked for more details earlier… this would have made identifying them as allies so much easier. Better late than never I suppose.

"The one who saved your life is my delicate little sister, Lissa." He continues on, snapping me out of my trance of deep thought. I didn't even need to look in her direction to tell that she puffed her cheeks up, probably from being called delicate in front of a stranger again. "Next to me is my wary advisor Frederick." Frederick showed a small sign of pride on his stoic expression. "Finally, the one who guided us through this battle, Robin." He pointed to the person in the cloak.

Robin, whose back was currently turned towards me turned around while pulling their hood down. White slacks, check, purple hooded cloak with lighter purple markings, check, brown belt with a purplish cloth, check, white shirt, check. I stopped after the shirt though when I looked from the chest upwards, realizing this was going to get much more awkward for me. Their, or rather I should say her hair was something of a platinum white, tied up like two pigtails that draped over her shoulders.

"So, what about yourself." Thankfully, Chrom asking me that managed to snap me out of my stupor. I turned towards Chrom and looked at him quizzically. "Your name." He requested, resulted in me thwacking my forehead upon realizing that I forgot to introduce myself.

"Sorry, my name is…" I stopped for a second, remembering something I was told before coming here. _'_ _Don't use your real name.'_ A voice in my memory rang out. Keeping it in my mind, I continued with my introduction. "…Tyson, a traveller from a distant country." I said, wishing I could have thought of something better. It will do though, but I need to think up better names just in case I need to use a fake name again.

"Well then Tyson, this might not be the best time to ask, but would and Robin like to join the Shepherds?" Chrom offered, Robin accepted in a heartbeat but I chose to think it over for a moment. While I am familiar with the major events that can take place, I don't know squat about actual directions here, so joining them might be a good idea, at least for now. While I was deep in thought, I noticed Chrom extend his arm, awaiting my answer.

Now or never I guess. "Sure, you can count me in." I said confidently, taking his hand with my own and giving it a firm shake. Thus, the first step in my new life here has begun.

 **A/N: Whew, it has been a while. Anyways, it's nice to be back after years of not writing fics. It has been a while since I played awakening, but I still remember the plot no problem, the real issue is character personalities. I'm going to need the help of any reviewers if I mess up with anyone's personality, especially so for Robin since I never played the game using the female one (Stupid, yes… but I felt like trying something different). I wish you all a happy day and hope to see you next time.**

 **Tyson's Current Class: Sword Mage**

 **Level: 1** **Experience: 67**

 **HP: 17**

 **Str: 6**

 **Mag: 8**

 **Spd: 5**

 **Skill: 5**

 **Def: 4**

 **Res: 7**

 **Luck: 3**

 **Skills: Cold Embrace (Sword Mage Level 1)** **–** **Allows the unit to use ice tomes.**

 **Weapon Proficiency: Swords D, Tomes E**

 **Inventory: Iron Sword, Ice Tome**


	2. Chapter 1 - Rise of the Undead

**Disclaimer: Fire Emblem is officially owned by Nintendo.**

I soon broke my handshake with Chrom and turned to notice one of the surviving villagers approaching our merry little group. "Thank you for saving our village, we do not have much, but I insist that you all stay for a celebration in your honour." He said, looking extremely thankful.

"That won't be needed, we need to start heading back before nightfall." Chrom declined the offer, the reasonable choice to be honest. The homes of these people were just destroyed, and they will need all the food and supplies they have during repairs.

"Aaaaw, really!?" Lissa finally seemed to realize what Chrom said while she was in the middle of ordering some food. I couldn't help but let out a faint chuckle, finding her reaction combined with her pout admittedly funny.

I finally calmed down after a few seconds, looking over to notice that Robin was chuckling a little as well. When she calmed down, she decided to bring up the obvious question. "So where are we going?" She curiously asked to which Chrom was quick to respond.

"We're heading to Ylisstol, it's about a day to the north. We should leave now if we want to make it by the afternoon tomorrow." He responds, looking to the sky, it was indeed starting to slowly go into evening. Chrom was first to head off, Frederick quickly following and going on head, Lissa was third while Robin and I were the last to take off.

While the group was walking through the forest, we began to have some idle conversation, attempting to kill some time. Most of the conversation was directed at me though since I was the new member who wasn't an amnesiac. "Okay, so in order of the questions, I originally came from a country far to the west, not charted on any known maps. I was a resident in a small hamlet where my friends and I helped out around town." I explained, using a story I crafted up in the event I was asked anything relating to my past. As I continued on with my story, eventually reaching where I left the country, seeking to understand the culture of new lands, night fell upon us.

"This seems like a good place to set up camp." Chrom comments, the whole group coming to a stop. I decided to take a look around my surroundings, simply gauging out the area for any signs of edible food.

"So, how are we splitting up to get things set up?" I asked, my stomach growling a little. I nervously chuckled a little, happy the darkness of night could hide my embarrassed expression.

"Frederick, you're in charge of preparing the fire." Chrom says, looking in the direction of the knight. I couldn't tell if he nodded or not, but I could hear his heavy footsteps and the shuffling of wood. Sounds like he was already getting to work. "Lissa, Robin, see if you can find some edible berries or something." He gives the next request, to which Lissa grumbled a little as they walked off. That just left me and Chrom. "Tyson, we're going to hunt for some meat."

"Well, this is going to be fun." I said, placing my hand on the hilt of my sword as we took off in search of some game. The only thing that could be heard as we walked was the crunching of dirt and twigs beneath our feet. The silence was awkward, but it was also unnerving. With only the light of the moon illuminating our route, something soon came into vision. "What do we have here?" I whispered to Chrom, getting down on my knees to make my presence a little less known to our possible bounty.

"It looks like a bear, it looks like it might be eating something." Chrom comments, taking a closer look, it looks like his assumption was right. Taking a whiff, a rotten stench quickly assaulted my nose. Covering it quickly, I turned to Chrom, hoping he would understand what I just smelled. He simply gave a nod in understanding.

"Okay, if we don't want to end up as dessert, we need a plan of attack." I point out, an idea popping into my head. "I have something, I'll get the bear's attention, and I'll try to get a few strikes in on it. When it gets weak enough, you finish it off." I suggest, gripping the hilt of my sword now.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You do know what will happen if you mess up?" Chrom points out, concern in his tone. I just chuckle and shrug it off.

"Hunting and combat are completely different. I've hunted enough to not fear a simple animal like this." I say confidently, getting up and charging at the bear before Chrom cold raise an objection. The Bear turned around and attempted a swipe at me. Anticipating such an action, I stopped just out of reach and drew my sword, striking out at its legs. The bear was too slow to dodge and let out a painful growl, giving me ample time to back up.

I take a quick look behind me to see Chrom running off to the side with his Falchion drawn. Nodding, I turn back to the bear, noticing it now standing on its hind legs to look more intimidating as it swiped again. I brought up the sword to block, although the swipe didn't hurt, the force of the swipe surprised me, knocking me a little off to the side.

With my guard down, the bear attempted to slash at me while my guard was down, however Chrom interfered with a stab into its side. The bear growled in pain and I used the newly formed opportunity to slash its chest. With the opening made, Chrom delivered the finishing blow, running his Falchion through its skull, finishing it off. Stepping back I watched as the bear crumpled into a heap. "Nice." I comment with a grin.

"That was way too close…" Chrom comments, looking at me with concern. Guess I worried him when I almost got torn into by its claws.

"Trust me Chrom, this is not the closest call I had." I say, motioning for him to help me carry the bear back to camp. Chrom walked over to the other side and with mighty grunts, we both pick up the bear's corpse and proceeded to carefully carry it back to camp. It took us a few minutes, but when we returned we dropped the corpse to the ground. "We're eating good tonight!" I proudly declare.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Lissa was in shock at the fact we brought a bear back. Frederick looked a little disgusted, and Robin… she looked like she was drooling. I guess hunger can do that to a person. Chrom and I stood back while we let Frederick do the carving for us.

"I do wonder what bear tastes like, I have had deer and it was pretty good, but bear is new." I comment, thinking on when I last had deer meat, only making myself hungrier as a result. Thankfully, Frederick finished the carving and once the blood dried up, we began to cook a nice a chunk of it. "So Chrom, have you had bear meat before?" I asked, deciding to drum up some conversation.

"It's been a while, but I have. It was delicious." Chrom comments, looking quite excited to eat bear again. The smell of the meat cooking reached my nose and honestly, I liked what I was smelling… and my stomach was as well.

"How much longer until it's done?" Robin asked, looking the hungriest out of all of us. I couldn't resist chuckling a little at her impatience and decided to think up an answer to give. I was curious to see how she would respond at the very least.

"Hmmm… twenty-five minutes." I reply, though I did need to think up a time that would sound believable and judging from the look on her face, she didn't buy it.

"Really, then I'm guessing twenty." She counters, a slight competitive tone in her voice. Looks like she wants to make it a bet.

"Fine then, let's see who's closer." I challenge her, wondering if she'll take the challenge or not. The grin on her face told me that she was in, so we began our wait.

 ***Twenty minutes later***

"I think it's done." Chrom calls out, causing me to inwardly curse at myself for being so off. I hung my head in shame for a bit, silently admitting defeat. The cooked meat was soon cut and distributed among the five of us to eat.

"Time to eat." I say, sinking my teeth into a nice chunk of the meat, to get a good taste. It wasn't half bad, not among my top three meats, but it was still pretty damn good. I soon tore out the piece of meat and chew it nicely before swallowing. "That's some good meat." I comment, taking out another bite of meat.

"I can't believe you guys are eating this, it smells worse than an old boot." Lissa complains, I chose to tune her out though, focusing most on my part of the meal. When I eventually finish my meal, I gently fall down to my back, feeling satisfied. "I swear you and Chrom are weird…" She adds on, probably not noticing how Robin was devouring her meat like it was her last day alive.

"Meat is meat… though I definitely prefer the meat of a cow though." I comment, chuckling as I wonder what I can have a good slab of beef at some point. "Well, I'm going to call it a night, I want to be nice and ready for the walk tomorrow." I say, closing my eyes to the sounds of their conversation and the gentle crackling of the flames.

My eyes open almost as quickly as they closed, however the moonlit forest is now gone, replaced a white void. "What the hell?" I mutter, looking around in confusion. A lone figure soon caught my eye, though they were too far to make out from here. Trying to take a step forward, I realize that I am on solid ground and break out into a run, although the figure never seemed to get any closer. "Who are you!?" I call out, the area around me suddenly becoming blindingly bright.

When the brightness died down, the white void was gone, instead I was on some sort of circular stone platform, four pillars along the edges with nothing but grass and the vast sea in my vision. Looking in my hands, I noticed a sword, heavier than the iron one I normally had, likely made of steel, but a little thicker. "What's… going on?" I wonder, a sense of danger quickly tingling my spine, jumping to the side, I barely dodge a slash from a figure.

Even though the figure is close to me, a sort of shadow was covering it, hiding all sense of identity aside from the weapon. In its left hand is a peculiar blade. The handle is about three times as long, with some sort of gold metal imbedded in the pommel. The blade itself was a little longer than the hilt, a darker sheen of metal. Taking hold of the steel blade, I go for an upwards swing. My mystery opponent countered with a downwards swing, both hands on the hilt as our blades collided. In a second though, my blade shattered to pieces and my opponent's blade cut through me like butter. The last thing I could hear was my pained screams while I fell to the ground, my eyes slowly closing once more.

"AAH!" I quickly shot up, clutching my chest in a cold sweat as I notice that I was back in the forest, the fire was out, nothing but a small stream of smoke rising from the ashes. "What the hell happened?" I mutter, thinking about the strange dream. I took a small look at my surroundings, noticing how Chrom and Lissa seemed to have disappeared. I slowly got up to my feet, concerned about their safety.

As I was about to take a step, I felt a fierce tremble in the ground, almost making me fall back onto my back. I managed to keep my footing though as Robin and Frederick were awoken from the ground shaking.

"What's going on!?" Robin seemed alarmed, looking around as some trees began to collapse. Some were close to hitting us, but luckily they missed.

"Milord, milady!?" Frederick called out in concern, looking around frantically for Chrom and Lissa. The look of worry on his face is definitely I wasn't expecting to see.

While we were in a panicked state, I was unaware of the ground underneath us beginning to crack. I realized too late though as the ground beneath me split open. "Shit!" I called out, grabbing whatever I could, hanging on for dear life. I attempted to pull myself up, and when my upper body was just about up, the ground broke out again. "Really!?" I shout falling again, this time feeling something grab me.

"Frederick, a little help!?" I looked up to see Robin barely hanging onto my hand, though it seems I might be a little too heavy for her alone. More my fault really, thankfully Frederick rushed over and helped Robin pull me out of the tear in the ground and a little bit away from it.

"Thanks…" I say, on my hands and knees as a sudden burst of heat flew past my back. Looking up, I noticed that it was a large fireball, one of many as it looked like the sky itself was raining fire. "Okay, near death experience aside, any idea on where Chrom and Lissa are?" I asked curiously with concern filled in my tone.

"Yes, I found something akin to their footsteps in the dirt." Frederick responds, whistling over his armored horse. "If we hurry, we'll be able to get them before things get worst." He says, getting on top of his mount. I slowly got up to my feet and sighed in relief. Nothing else needed to be said as the three of us took off in the direction of the tracks Frederick found.

"Ow… damn branches." I groan as we ran through the woods. It seems like I had the unfortunate honour of having tree branches whip into my face, but they were a nuisance at most considering what we saw when we reached a clearing.

"What is that?" Robin was first to ask as we all looked up at the now red sky. Somehow, a bright blue light was shining down upon us, some sort of figures falling out of it and towards the ground. After a few seconds, the light finally disappeared and a scream rang out through the woods.

"Milady!" Frederick didn't even hesitate to ride of to the source of the sound, leaving me and Robin behind.

"Robin, let's go." I say, motioning her to catch up with Frederick. She got the note and we both pursued the knight, only to be quickly stopped when two figures stepped in front of us. The both seemed to resemble well built males, leather armor on their right arms with axes in their left. Their skin was a dark purple hue and their eyes, red as the flames building up in the forest.

"Rrrrrgh… Ragh!" Without hesitation, one of them charged at us, axe ready to strike. I retaliated by drawing my sword and intercepted, causing our weapons to clash and send out a few sparks.

"Robin, go on ahead, I'll cover your back." I advise, pushing the thing away from me. It groaned out and swung again, to which I sidestep.

"No, I'll help." Robin stubbornly responds, firing an electric ball in our direction. Seeing an opportunity form, I kick the thing, causing it to stagger while I jumped to the side, letting it take the full force of the electricity.

"Graaaah!" It cried out, its body twitching with small sparks crackling off of it. I looked at it in surprise at how it survived the blow. Its head turned to face Robin, who was chanting another thunder spell. I used the opportunity it made though, running my sword through the back of its head, watching as it dissolved into black fog, leaving only one left. It quickly charged forward and attempted to lob off my head with its axe. I parry the blow and step to the side, letting Robin's magic hit it while pulling out my own tome.

Reciting the incantation, I fire an ice ball at it, hitting it square in the chest. The magic quickly took effect as its whole body numbed over before collapsing, turning into a black fog just like its counterpart. "All right, let's get going." I tell Robin, putting my sword in its scabbard before heading off in the direction Frederick went in. I could only assume Robin followed along.

A fort soon came into view, believing it to be useful, I charged towards it, banging on the door as Robin caught up to me. "Is anyone in there!?" I called out only to be welcome with an arrow landing next to my foot.

"Foul beast, know that I Virion, archest of archers will put an end to you." A pompous voice rang out from atop the fortress' wall. I'm willing to say that he can't see us too well from up there. Probably won't stop me from decking him later.

"We aren't with those monsters, so can you let us in!?" I call out, pulling out the ice tome and checking my surroundings as we awaited a reply. Our reply thankfully came in the form of the fortress door opening where Frederick stood front and center with Chrom and Lissa off to the back with a woman with some messy red hair, and some form of lightweight armor that for some reason has a loincloth added on it.

Robin and I quickly entered the fort and waited for Frederick to close the door behind us. "What's the situation like?" Robin asked the group, probably so we can be up to speed and she can form a plan of attack.

"Not long after the tremors and fires started, these… things descended from the sky. Frederick and I cleared a few out and noticed this fortress. We quickly took Lissa in here and on our way we ran into Sully…" Chrom directed us towards the red head. "…another member of the shepherds, and Virion." He points to the guy on top of the wall.

"So this fort is our only stronghold of defense against these things?" I asked, rubbing my chin with my free hand. "I'll go help out on the wall, I doubt Virion alone will be enough." I state, heading towards a ladder and climbing on up so I can provide support.

"Okay, while Tyson and Virion cover us, I want Chrom, Sully, and Frederick to go on the offensive, stay close to the fortress so you can return to Lissa for healing." I hear her say, chanting on the ice tome. Looking down, I notice the three of them nod, Sully and Frederick getting on their horses before taking off with Chrom heading off on foot.

Extending my arm out, I fire a ball of ice magic at one of the approaching creatures, hitting it in the head. Taking no time to wait, I began chanting again. "I must ask, where ever did you get such an unusual tome?" I heard Virion ask, hearing the twang of his bowstring while I fired another ice ball.

"A friend made it." I respond, heading to one of the other sides of the wall. I looked down and noticed Chrom and Sully fighting as a duo, keeping the creatures at bay. I happen to notice one a little off to the side, trying to get them on their blind side. While charging up and ice spell, I quickly take note of a ball of electricity hitting it instead. Looking to my left, I notice Robin, thunder tome in her hand with her free hand extended. "Thanks." I say, leaving this side to her.

On the next open side, I look down to see Frederick, and just as quickly left when I realized that he was literally just completely dominating everything that came remotely close to him. Yeah, he had this no problem. Heading to the last side, I return to chanting the spell on the tome and let loose, hitting one that was getting a little too close for comfort.

Continuing on my casting, something worrisome caught my eye. A larger one of these creatures was slowly approaching the fortress, a large axe in its hand shaped similarly to the bandit leader. "We got a problem here!" I call out, knowing this one will be too much for me alone. Both Robin and Virion quickly rushed over to see what I meant, looking concerned when they noticed the large one approaching.

"That must be what's leading them." Robin theorized, charging up another thunder spell and firing it at the supposed leader. It hit it directly in the chest, but it seemed unfazed by the attack.

"Robin, get the others over here to help if they're able. I'll go down to help them out." I say, hurrying to the ladder without waiting for her response and sliding down. Once my feet hit the ground, I booked it to the door and opened it, heading towards the side of the wall the large one was on.

When I arrived, the creature was starting to get close, so I decided to make a mad dash for it, swinging my sword at its backside. The slash hit true, but it barely left a mark. "How thick is its skin?" I mutter, noticing how it turned to face me. I gulped a bit nervously as it towered over me, casting a large shadow. "Oh shit…"

"Grrr… kill." It groaned out, raising one of its large axe. My panic instincts kicked in and I jumped to the side, barely dodging the swing which upon impact rose some stone from the ground. "Graaagh!" It pried its axe out of the ground and swung again, this time to the side. I attempt blocking in a panic, but the blow just knocked me to the side into the fortress wall.

"Gah!" I cry out in pain, feeling my spine rattle as I fell to the ground in a heap. "Rrrrgh… damn it." I groan out, trying to force myself up, only for my arms to give out. Letting go of my sword, I reach back and pull out my tome, beginning to read off of it while the creature closed in. I fired out the ice ball soon after, hitting the creature in the head, staggering it long enough for the others to arrive.

"Tyson, are you okay!?" Chrom calls out, his Falchion drawn out. Frederick had his own silver lance ready and Sully had her iron lance ready.

"Could be better, but I can at least provide a little support." I say, keeping the ice tome ready. It was clear that I couldn't stand in my current state, but I don't need my legs to use some magic.

"Rragh!" The creature let out a feral growl, charging at Chrom instantly. He quickly jumped back, dodging a wide side swing, using the opening to slash one of its arms. It seemed close to unfazed before trying to grab him, only to be met with an arrow in the eye from Virion.

"Nice shot!" I call out, hitting it with an ice ball, slowing down its swing speed with a direct hit to the arm. Sully capitalized on the opportunity, stabbing it twice with her lance, once in the back and once in the side before she fell back to let Frederick take over. Frederick wasted no time in making his move, running his lance right through its stomach and through the back.

"Kill! KILL!" The creature cried out, hitting Frederick off of his horse with its fist. I flinched upon seeing him hit the ground, but he thankfully seemed to be alive. As the creature prepared to swing, another electric ball of Robin's hit it in the face, staggering back long enough for Chrom to deal the final blow.

 **"** **I will not fail!"** Chrom shouts out, cutting through it cleanly with his Falchion. The creature cried out in pain as it slowly fell in two pieces, disappearing into a black fog soon after.

"Good, cut." I say, putting the tome away. I still found myself unable to get up to my feet, but it seems like Chrom took notice and decided to give me a hand. "Thanks, now mind bringing to Lissa so she can heal my spine?" I asked, trying to get out a nonchalant chuckle. It only served to hurt more than anything.

When the group got inside the fortress, Lissa quickly began healing my injuries. The painful sensation was still there, but I could slowly feel my spine re-aligning back into place. When the healing process finished and I got on my feet, a new person walked into the fort, dressed in completely blue garb with a matching blue cape, and blue hair. They seemed to be wearing a mask of some kind over their eyes.

"Thank you for your help, if you didn't come, I fear what would have happened to Lissa." Chrom thanked the stranger. The stranger gave a nod in response to the thanks.

"That was only the beginning, something far worse will appear in the near future." The stranger warned, their voice attempting to sound male, but I was able to pick up that it was too… feminine. No one else seemed to pick up on this little detail though so I decided to just stay quiet.

"What's your name?" Chrom asked, taking her warning into mind. He just had some sort of look in his eye that made me think that. Must be his over trusting attitude.

"You may call me Marth." She responds. Frederick seemed to find something suspicious about her introducing herself by that name and quickly jumped on it.

"You share the same name as the hero king of old? Preposterous" He declares, giving a stern glare at Marth. She seemed to be unfazed before turning around. Mid turn she stopped, looking in my direction. I could tell that even behind the mask, she was wary of me. Almost like I was someone she shouldn't see. She finished her turn quickly though, her back turned to all of us.

"I'm afraid that I have spent too much time here, farewell." As soon as she finished saying that, she began to walk off into the forest. We all just stood there for a while an awkward silence filling our group.

"Well, that was eventful." I said, trying to break the tension. It definitely did as everyone turned towards me.

"Yes, are you all right?" Chrom asked, making sure that my spine wasn't trying to bring me down. I just chuckled and waved it off.

"Probably going to need a hot bath or something to soothe my back muscles and spine, but aside from that, I'm good." I respond, yawning a little bit. "Now, someone wake me up when we're about to go to Ylisstol. If I refuse to wake up, have Frederick drag me." I say, not even waiting for answer as I slowly laid down. My back still hurt, but the dirt here was soft enough that it wasn't too bad as I quickly drifted off, tuning out any attempts to stop me. I wonder how tomorrow is going to turn out?

 **A/N: Woo boy, talk about a beefer. I have to say, getting back into writing feels pretty fun. I'll just leave it off here and see you guys next time.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Welcome to Ylisstol

**Disclaimer: Fire Emblem is officially owned by Nintendo.**

"Ow! What the hell was that?" I groaned in pain while my eyes jerked open, my head throbbing in pain as it was smacked against a branch.

"I see you're awake." A voice said to my left. Turning my head to face that direction, I noticed Chrom with Lissa to his left.

"So, how long did you try to wake me before putting me on someone's horse… and whose horse am I on." I asked, not even having checked who was in front of me since my vision was clouded from the surprise awakening.

"We tried for about an hour or so before Frederick suggested that we get going if we want to make it by afternoon." Chrom responds, recalling the events of trying to wake me up. I only this as I barely heard a faint chuckle from him.

"As for whose horse you're on…" Lissa intervened, seeming to lead on her sentence so the rider could say their piece.

"That would be mine." A kind of tough female voice responded. I looked towards my rider and now that I was actually looking, I notice the messy crimson hair.

"Sully, right?" I asked, rubbing my eyes to get the last little bit of sleep out of them.

"Yeah, and what's it to you?" She responds, ducking under another branch. I quickly did the same, not wanting another face full of leaves and wood.

"Just wanted to be sure, you didn't need to be that much of a smartass though." I respond, chuckling a little. While I was expecting a comeback or something, she just guffawed.

"Ha, you're not bad kid, better than ruffles over there at least." She responds, looking in Virion's direction. Looks like he was greatly failing to get Robin's attention since he had time to try and flirt now.

"Heh, thanks." I respond with a chuckle, jumping off Sully's horse so I could walk with the group. I wanted to get the blood pumping at the very least. "By the way, where's Frederick?" I ask, noticing that he wasn't around.

"He went on ahead to clear the way for us." Chrom responds, earning a quizzical look from me. "He has a… strange habit of going out to clear every pebble in the road we plan to travel on." He adds, causing me to laugh a little at the mental image. I stopped laughing though when I noticed Robin walking closer to the group and away from Virion.

"Wait my silver haired beauty, there is still more to be said."Virion attempted to come to the group to continue his hopeless flirting, only for Sully's horse to look at him. Yeah, the horse was actually so fed up that it actually turned its head towards him and gave him a death glare. Talk about a savage horse. Virion promptly shut up and just walked alongside the group.

"Finally…" Robin sighed in relief, happy that Virion was done with flirting with her for now. It seems she has taken up to standing to my right, looking in the direction of my Ice tome curiously. "Hmm…"

"What's up?" I asked her, deciding to see why she was staring at the tome. She seemed to shake her head a little, looking like she was just awoken from a nap from how quick she reacted like that.

"Your tome, it looks nothing like the ones the bandits from south town or the one I use." She comments, going a little lost in thought.

"Yeah, it was nothing like the normal tomes we see here." Lissa tosses in her two cents, looking interested in the topic Robin brought up.

"I'm not surprised, it is one of a kind after all." I respond, taking it out and keeping a firm grip on it. I didn't want to risk any of them grabbing onto it to look over without my permission.

"Oh, is it like those old tomes we've heard stories about?" Lissa asked, jumping a little from excitement at the thought of it being something like that. Chrom managed to calm her down so I could answer, though he looked curious himself.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just a basic ice tome, no stronger than a fire tome really, just with ice." I attempted to explain. "It's only one of a kind because a friend made it for me. While magic of any kind can be done without a tome given a large timeframe of focus, tomes just let you cast much faster for combat purposes. The reason my friend made an ice tome is because I seemed to have a great affinity with it, and he figured it would be best to give me a way to use it in combat, just in case." I explain to them far easier than explaining its power to them.

"Can anyone use ice magic?" Robin decided to ask, considering she is the most unaware of the tome types that can exist.

"Not easily, it's a kind of magic that requires intense training to learn, and the payoff is deemed low if you're not naturally adept at it." I respond, earning a look of intrigue from her. The group soon came to a stop and my mouth gaped at the sight I saw. About an hour away from us stood a marvelous looking city, the most noticeable thing being a large castle that looks to be in the middle of it.

"That, is Ylisstol." Chrom comments, likely intended for me, Virion and Robin since we seemed to be the only ones who reacted to the sight.

"Wow…" Was all Robin seemed to get out, completely speechless at the sight of the place from where we are.

"Impressive." I comment myself, managing to get my mouth closed so I would stop looking like a total idiot. Totally worth it though. "So, when will we get to see the place up close?"

"We should be there within the hour." Frederick came riding towards the group, giving a quick answer. He turned the horse around and took lead, actually going at a speed that the rest of the group could easily follow along with. Seeing that no one wanted to waste time, we all just took off with him.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and as expected, the group soon arrived within the walls of the capital. "Wow, this place looks even more amazing inside the walls." I comment, looking around the nearby marketplace within earshot of the group.

"This place is even bigger than I thought!" Robin comments, looking over I saw her mouth open in awe as she looked around the place.

"The exalt! She graces us with her presence!" A civilian cried out, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the area. They all turned to face one direction, and I admittedly did the same. Walking down the street was an admittedly beautiful blonde haired woman. Her hair seemed to be curled a little as it went over her shoulders. Her current attire consisted of regal green robes and from what I can make out, there was a mark on her forehead that looked just like the one on Chrom's shoulder.

"That's the exalt?" Robin asked, turning in the direction of the group I decided to walk towards them, just so I could get involved in the conversation.

"Yes, she's seen as a symbol of peace to the people of Ylisse." Frederick answers, seeming to be looking out for anything suspicious among the crowd. Looks like his guard is never truly down.

"Yeah, and she's the best big sister ever!" Lissa pointed out cheerfully. Robin seemed to agree before realizing what exactly it was Lissa said.

"Wait, that means you two are…!?" Robin quickly bowed down on the ground, probably in an attempt to make up for any possible rude mannerisms she might have made. I just began to laugh, finding her reaction to admittedly be hilarious.

"Yes, we're the prince and princess of the halidom, at ease Robin." Chrom reassured her, though I could hear Lissa snickering behind him. Looks like she found Robin's reaction funny as well.

"Yeah, something tells me that if Chrom here actually cared about titles, he would have introduced himself as such when we met him at Southtown." I comment, jabbing my thumb at his chest, causing a surprised grunt before we all had a little laugh.

"So Tyson, Robin, would you two like to meet sis up there?" Lissa asked, pointing towards the castle. Robin stammered a little out of surprised of being asked that before eventually agreeing. I just shrugged and nodded, giving her my okay.

After getting confirmation from both of us, Lissa pretty much began to drag us towards the castle. I was surprised at how quickly I almost lost my footing… on a few occasions actually. When we reached the castle doors, some guards managed to stop Lissa, which is when I finally fell flat on my face. "Ow…"

After getting back on my feet, I looked behind me to see Chrom and Frederick catching up to us, the former looking a little winded. "Th-they're new members of the Shepherds." He says, managing to catch his breath. The guards up front nodded and opened the door, letting the group walk in.

"Thank you." I decided to thank one of the guards, looking around the inside of the castle. I couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle, captivated by the décor. I continued my little look around while following the group, not paying attention to whatever they were saying.

The group soon came to a stop in front of a pair of giant doors, two guards in front of it with lances in hand. They soon opened the door for us, a large blue carpet with gold trimmings decorating the middle of the floor. Four large pillars in the corners with large glass windows to the side. At the back lied the throne and in front of it stood the exalt waiting for us.

"Chrom, how was your journey?" She asked, her voice sounded very soft, but it still held an air of authority. Said bluenette walked up a little and motioned his arm towards Robin and myself.

"I would say it was pretty eventful Emm. These are our newest shepherds Tyson and Robin, Robin will be taking on the role of our new tactician." Chrom says in introduction for the both of us.

"Pleasure to meet you your highness." I speak up, deciding to be respectful and gave a bow. "I must say that it is an honor to meet you."

"If I may intervene… Robin here claims to have no memories, however I have reason to deem such a claim to be suspicious." Frederick quickly intervenes, to which the exalt, who as far as I know as Emm turned towards Chrom, likely to get his opinion on this matter.

"Chrom, is it true?" She asked with a worrisome expression. It looks like she wanted to trust Robin, but the reason of doubt Frederick brought up seemed to worry her.

"Yes, but Robin and Tyson both saved Ylissean lives. I would gladly trust them with my own life." Chrom says in complete confidence. I couldn't help but let out a small sigh afterwards, unintentionally getting the attention of the others in the room.

"Um… don't mind me…" I nervously say, nervously chuckling at the quick awkward tone things seemed to have taken. Chrom seemed to dismiss the matter quickly and turned towards the exalt again.

"Emm, we have important matters to discuss." He brings up, looking concerned. I had the distinct feeling that it involves the chaos that happened last night in the forest. I decided to turn and head towards the doorway.

"Hey, Tyson." Lissa walked up to me, Robin following her. "You want to join me and Robin, I want you guys to meet the others." She says, looking excited to introduce us to the other shepherds.

"No thanks, mind giving me directions to where the shepherds normally meet up though?" I asked. Lissa seemed to be a little disappointed that I denied her invite but quickly perked up. Giving me an excited nod, she gave me the basic directions from the front of the castle, meaning I will have to start from there when I want to go there for the first time. "Thank you." Giving a quick wave, I walk out of the throne room and towards the front gate of the castle.

Once I was out of the castle, I decided to hit up the town, figuring now would be the best time to do a little exploring. "Okay, I only have ten gold for personal use, hopefully I can at least get some supplies with it." I mutter, heading down to the area where the group first entered.

It seemed like the area was a small marketplace with some nice stalls lined up along the street. Behind them were various homes and the occasional tavern, café, or restaurant. I decided to hit up one of the stands, noticing some ripe looking fruits. "Welcome sir, we sell only the finest of fruits grown on Ylissean soil." He advertises, wearing a big smile while I looked over the selection.

"This looks good." I said, picking up a nice, red apple. I take out one of my gold pieces and place it on his stall. I rub the apple against my chest and take a big bite out of it. It left a nice satisfying crunch, and the juices within tasted pretty good. Swallowing the bite, I give a wave goodbye to the salesman, deciding to continue my walk around the city with a snack in hand.

Taking another bite out of the apple, I walk into some sort of clothing store, curious to see what they had. I only had the one outfit and I would like to have some variety to my outfits. I looked over some tunics first, most were deep brown, but there were some black ones, a few deep blue ones, even a deep crimson one. I used my open hand to grab one of the black ones, running my thumb along the material. "Seems thick, yet it also seems to allow movement and can let the body breathe. Looks perfect to slap some chain mail under." I comment, checking it for a price… which is a single gold piece. I take two tunics in my size and sling them over my shoulder, checking out some slacks next. They were nothing too special in design but thankfully they were one gold piece a pair so I grabbed two more, slinging them over with the tunics.

"One more thing to check." Walking to the back of the store and taking another bite out of my apple, I look over some thicker button up jackets. This was more along the lines of personal aesthetic choices now. Looking over the selection, I stopped when I noticed a nice crimson one. It was my personal favorite when it came to jacket colors, and it seemed to be in my size. "Looks thick enough to take a few arrows as well." I mutter, checking the price… ouch, it was three pieces. I really wanted it though, so I grabbed the jacket and brought it over to whoever was accepting payment. Paying the seven pieces, I walk out carrying my clothes, beginning to head towards the castle so I could follow the directions Lissa gave me to a T.

I found myself stopping though, a sense of danger quickly washing through me. I looked around a little, seeing nothing of note and just shrugged, continuing on my way. When I reached the front of the castle, I began following Lissa's directions, reaching my destination within ten minutes. The target building seemed to be larger than the normal homes and the fort in the forest. It was designed to look similar to a fort but seemed to have a more… homey feel to it.

Approaching the door, I open up and walk in, taking in my surroundings a little bit. "I was wondering when you would get here." Looking to my right, I saw Chrom and gave him a wave.

"Yeah, sorry about not coming sooner, I was in desperate need of clothing." I say, chuckling a little. "What did I miss anyways?" I asked, wanting to get caught up to speed.

"We're planning on heading to Regna Ferox tomorrow to run negotiations with the Khan there. The mission is voluntary so if you don't wish to come along, I understand." He says, almost like he was expecting me to say no.

"I'm in." I bluntly say, adjusting the clothing on my shoulder a bit. "By the way, where am I going to be sleeping?" I curiously bring up.

"Well… we didn't have time to shuffle around arrangements too much, so you're going to have to room with Robin until we can work out better sleeping arrangements." He replies, looking a little nervous.

"Chrom, I'm twenty-one, the thought of sharing a room with a woman isn't going to make me have some sort of over reactive breakdown. Now where can I get a key to the room just in case and where is the room itself?" I asked.

"Your key is over there." He points towards a room to the left, a small parlor for relaxing and on the table in the center is my key. I walked over and looked at it, finishing my apple before tossing it into some sort of waste bucket and grabbed my key. "And your room is on the second floor, first door on the right."

"Thanks." I say, walking up the stairs and approaching said door. With key in hand, I place it in the lock and turn, a familiar click sounding out as I take the key out and walk into the room. It was a fairly simple two bed room with a small table with a lantern on it in between the beds at the back wall. Behind it was a large window that seemed simple enough to open. In front of the beds were longer tables, likely for us to put personal belongings on. I gently place the clothes I bought, my ice tome, and my sword on a table and lied down on the bed. "Weird, I expected Robin to be in."

Not long after I said that, said tactician walked in… in a towel. Looks like she just returned from taking a bath. Our eyes ended up locking a little, hers looking around nervously, mine, nothing different in them. "What are you doing in here!?" Robin shouts, grabbing one of her tomes and preparing to throw it.

"Chrom didn't tell you?" She shook her head, still primed to throw the tome. "Well, he said that since there wasn't a lot of time to shuffle sleeping arrangements, we're going to be roommates." I state, turning to look away from her so she could get dressed without worry. "Guess it's my fault for not coming along with you and Lissa, we would have known about this sooner and not have this awkward situation."

Robin let out an audible sigh in response and closed the door to the room. "Well… it looks like we'll have to live with it for now." She says, the sound of some fabric shuffling around. "Why didn't you point out the issue of this kind of arrangement to Chrom anyways?" She asks.

"To be honest, I didn't think about it. I've never been the best at thinking ahead at times…" I respond, chuckling a little sadly before sighing. "Well, hopefully it won't be too long that we'll be bunking like this, but let's at least make the most of it." I say, trying to lighten up a little bit.

Robin didn't say anything for a moment, thinking over what I said. "Yeah." She agrees quite quickly yet simply. "You're good to look now." She adds in, to which I turn around from the wall to face her. She was wearing the same attire as usual, but she surprisingly didn't have her coat on.

"So, do you have any idea when dinner is?" I asked, still feeling a little hungry. I did only eat an apple today, getting a full on meal would be really nice right about now.

"I think it should be soon." Robin responds, a little unsure herself. I get up out of my bed and bring a hand up to my chin.

"Let's go check then, the mess hall shouldn't be too far from here." I say opening the door out, letting Robin walk out first. I quickly followed her and closed the door behind us with a nice click. "So, do you know where it is?" I asked, not too familiar with the layout of the place. She answered with a nod and guided me down the stairs, a little to the left down another hall and to the second door on the right. I placed my hands on the doors, wondering what the other shepherds are going to be like as I begin opening it.

 **A/N: And done. I figured that I should save introductions of the other shepherds for another chapter and this one was starting to get a bit too big for my liking. Anyways, I'll see you guys next time.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Meeting the Shepherds

**Disclaimer: Fire Emblem is officially owned by Nintendo.**

The instant I walked into the mess hall, my nose was assaulted with a variety of scents. The most prominent was the scent of roasted pot roast, some steamed vegetables, and soup following afterwards. From what I was noticing, it was just a walk up and grab what you want kind of deal. Robin walked up first and I followed, both of us grabbing some plates.

"What to eat, what to eat?" I mutter, noticing a nice loath of bread that avoided my nose. Fighting back any instinct to drool at the delicious food, I filled up my plate with a slice of the roast, some bread, and lastly the vegetables. To think I was such a brat about the vegetables four years back. Thinking that, I laughed a little and looked for an open seat.

I happened to notice one and just took it without hesitation before looking around at who was with me. To my left was a tan skinned, muscle bound male with blonde hair that seemed to have been combed back spiky. To the left of him was Sully, and they seemed to be engaged in some sort of conversation, apparently about who could do the most push-ups before fainting. In front of Sully was someone dressed in similar gear as Sully, fairly messy dark hair that I swear almost looked a tinge of green. He seemed too enveloped in eating his meal to talk at the moment.

The last person I noticed was a sort of tall male, dark hair cut almost like a bowl cut, his eyes seemed to be closed but he was still eating his meal, but looked approachable. "Hello." I say, facing him. He seemed to look up, facing me before looking at Stahl then back to me. It was almost as if he was looking to see that I was talking to him. "Yeah, I'm talking to you." I say to confirm his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm not used to others talking to me first." He says, giving a quick glance to the others who looked as though they didn't even know he was there. I nodded my head a little in understanding, understanding the problem a little.

"I know the feeling to be honest." I chuckle, taking a bite out of my food, savouring the juicy roast before swallowing it. He seemed to look at me curiously, likely wanting me to give an explanation. "I kind of lacked presence a lot when I was younger." I explain. "What's your name anyways?" I ask, trying to get introductions out of the way.

"Kellam, it's nice to meet you." He says, returning to his meal while awaiting my introduction.

"Tyson, the feeling is mutual." I introduce myself in response, eating another bite of my meal. We seemed to be stuck in a bit of a silence for a while, until I decided to break it with a topic on the upcoming mission. "So, any idea what Regna Ferox is like?" I asked.

"No, I've never been that far north before." He answers, shaking his head as well before returning to his meal. I returned to mine as well before Kellam brought up another question. "What about you, Chrom told us that you came from very far up north." He points out to which I nod.

"I did, but the vessel I rode on took a route into Plegia, and that was not a fun walk." I comment, looking a little upset at the 'memory'. "Let me tell you, the place is a desert and in the middle of the day, it becomes almost unbearable. Then night happens and you're begging for the heat to return." I explain, and Kellam did not seem happy about the thought of those experiences.

"Please, Teach could handle that, no problem." Looking to my left, it seemed as though the tan skinned Blonde and Sully were now looking at us. I looked at the blonde with an unamused expression.

"And you are?" I ask in a dull tone. He almost seemed to take offence at how I did not know who he was from a glance.

"Did Chrom not tell you about the Vaike? His greatest rival in everything the shepherds have only done?" He asks, clearly gloating as well and overselling his introduction. Sully only seemed to laugh though.

"Really, how many times have you beat Chrom again?" She asks smugly, causing Vaike to stop his gloating for a moment to look at her. He seemed to be mad that Sully called him out so easily, and I just laughed at the antics.

"Well, looks like "The Vaike" just got shown up." I comment, returning to my dinner and finishing it off. Vaike seemed to go a little red in the face, getting out of his seat and walking around the table, sitting back down on the over side, bumping Kellam over without noticing. The red on his face vanished and he now had a competitive look in his eyes.

"Oh no…" I hear Kellam say, now a little to the left. Looks like he had a bad feeling as to what was going to happen. I looked back at Vaike as he placed an elbow on the table.

"How about you show teach what you got then?" He suggests, the position of his arm hinting that he wanted to arm wrestle. With the eyes of everyone at the table on me, I sighed and locked my hand with Vaike's.

"All right, let's do this." I say, waiting to begin. The stares between us were intense, his eyes seeming to look like a wolf ready to strike down its prey. Mine were like an eagle's, sharp, observing, ready to strike on the first weakness. Sully was the one to declare us to begin and both our forearms tensed up. I had the early lead, putting in a bit more power than Vaike expected, catching him off, but he was far from done. My lead slowly faded though as Vaike proved to be stronger, bringing us both to a standstill before getting my small lead. My teeth clenched, as I attempted to fight back, coming to no avail as Vaike's superior strength beat me in the end, my hand smacking against the table.

"And that's why you don't mess with teach." He states, releasing my hand and bringing his arm back. I brought mine back after getting feeling back into it, giving it a few shakes just to make sure that my wrist was in good shape.

"Got me there. Next time we do this, don't expect me to go down that easily again." I say, beginning to laugh a little, Vaike joining in with the laughter. We soon stopped after a few seconds and I decided to finish up my meal, letting out a satisfied sigh and pat my stomach a little.

"That was some of your best yet Stahl." Kellam compliments, referring to the male in green cavalry armor. I will never understand why some people chose to wear their armor to dinner like this. Maybe it's so they can be ready.

"Heh, I just followed my gut." He says, trying not to gloat about his achievement. He definitely seemed to know what he was doing though.

"Your gut must be a master connoisseur then." I joke, though quickly slinked down a little when no one but Vaike laughed at it. Everyone's a critic as they say, and it's just as true here. "Well, I think I'll go walk around a little bit, anyone want to tag along?" I ask, when everyone shook their heads no, I shrugged and got up, picking up my plate and wondering where to put it.

"Just behind the counter." Stahl advises, to which I happily nod. I bring the plate over to just behind the counter and walk out of the mess hall. I decided to use this small opportunity to walk around the place, trying to get a good feel for it. My first stop was the first door on the right, which upon opening seemed to be the armory. It seemed some armor, weapons and the like decorated the walls, with a small table in the middle for some reason. Maybe it was for polishing our gear.

"This place isn't half bad." I comment, walking around a little bit before taking a closer look at some of the swords. Most of them seemed to be simple iron swords, but I do see some steel ones among them. I then looked over the other gear, stopping at the lances. Once again, it was mainly iron lances, with some bronzes and steels mixed in. I gently grabbed one of the bronze lances, feeling the weight of it with both hands. "Hmm… this feels pretty nice." I comment, putting it away.

I walk out of the barracks and turned right, heading down the hall a little more and entering the next room. It lead outside into a nice training area, littered with training dummies, some in good condition, others completely broken. There were also some weapons racks to the side housing wooden weapons of various types. I head back in and search for a new room.

Finding that the rest of the doors were unfortunately locked, I walk into the lounge, someone seemed to already be in there, reading a book. It seemed to be a woman, approximately in her mid to late twenties from my guess. She was wearing lightweight mage robes that are brown in color with a large, matching hat on her head. I can barely make out her hair as a dark crimson, I think so at least, and she was wearing glasses. "Please, take a seat." She says, apparently noticing my presence.

I nod and sit down in the chair across from her, a small table being the only thing between us. A strange silence filled the air, not an awkward one, but it was more like she was observing me. "So, what's your name?" I asked, trying to break the silence a little bit.

"Miriel, and I assume that you are one of the new members Chrom told us about, correct?" She asked, looking up from her book a little. I give her a nod in response.

"That's right, name's Tyson, it's a pleasure to meet you Miriel." I say, giving her my name. I gently place my hands on my lap, not really having anything I could read.

"I see. And am I correct to assume that you're the one who is said to be using ice magic?" She inquires and I just nod along in response. "Fascinating, theories for using such magic have been developed for hundreds of years. To see someone in the flesh able to use it, is an honor." She states, a glint in her eye that admittedly worried me. "If you are joining us on the Regna Ferox expedition, I would love to see you demonstrate this first hand." She says, her face somehow looking neutral even though she sounded excited.

I placed a hand to my chin, thinking over it for a moment. "Okay, I'll do it. However, it will only be in the event we have a battle, my Ice tome is difficult to make." I state matter of factly. She seemed to nod her head in understanding.

"Do you at least know the process, I could possibly help you create one with it." She suggests. I give her a silent nod and she returns it, showing that we silently reached a silent agreement. I look out the window to my left, noticing that the sun has set.

"Wow, time really goes by when you're not paying attention to it." I comment, getting out of the chair. It was nice to meet you Miriel, but I must prepare for the expedition tomorrow." I state.

"I understand, I am required to do the same." She states, getting up and putting her book away. I give her a wave goodbye and begin to walk back to my room. When I reach my room, I give the door a knock, making sure Robin was in there.

After getting no response, I unlock the door and walk in, taking care to lock it behind me. I lit a candle so I could see. I then looked over the clothes I bought, laying out which ones to wear tomorrow, and what to pack for later. After making the decision, I placed my sword under my bed from the table and lay down on my bed. "Well, might as well get some rest for tomorrow." I say, noticing Robin walking in not long after. "Don't worry about me trying to peek if you need to get changed, I'm going to sleep." I say, not waiting for her answer as I closed my eyes.

Hello nothingness, nice to see you again after that damn dream. I still don't know what the hell it was about, was it a premonition? Or was the rush from the first day just getting to my head, the fear of death making that vision happen? I honestly wish I knew, but something deep in my gut tells me that I will be getting that answer one way or another.

 ***Creak***

My eyes quickly snap open, the room coated in darkness while a cool breeze blows in. Shrugging my shoulders, I slowly drift back before a thought hits me. "Wait, cool breeze?" I look towards the window, which was now wide open and just in front was a figure, though I could not tell much about their appearance because of the darkness of the room. I quickly reach under my bed, pulling the sword out and hiding it behind me as the figure turns to face me. I close my eyes, pretending to sleep as their footsteps slowly get louder to my ears.

When the footsteps stopped, I heard faint whispering, which I had to strain myself to hear. "I am sorry to do this, but you should not exist here." The figure said, though I was able to tell who it was from their voice. Hearing the sound of metal grinding against a scabbard, I use the moment to make my move. Grabbing my sword quickly, I deliver a slash, meeting a little resistance, likely indicating that the cut wasn't going to be too deep. "Gaah!" My attempted assassin's voice cried out in pain, causing Robin to wake up. The attacker jumped out the window, leaving us alone as Robin lit a candle.

"Tyson, what happened?" Robin asked, looking concerned while looking at the tip of my sword, some blood dripping off of it onto the floor.

"An attempt on my life." I say, cleaning my sword and putting it back under the bed. "We should tell Chrom about this in the morning, but for now, keep your guard up." I say, lying back down. "Good night Robin."

"Good night." Robin responds, her bronze sword gently clanged as it was slipped under her bed. She blew out the candle and I closed my eyes once more. Whatever reason you had Marth, know I will be getting answers the next time we meet, by force if I must.

 **A/N: Before anyone asks, yes I know I missed a few Shepherds. I just didn't have any ideas for some, and I had plans to introduce Sumia next chapter. Anyways, feedback is appreciated and I'll see you guys next time.**


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